Led by Christian Heiss, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Surrey, the study found that daily consumption of NOVOS Core improved blood vessel function, arterial flexibility and systolic blood pressure in healthy adults aged 40 and older.
The STAMINA study (or Effects of a Supplement to Target Ageing Mechanisms on Vascular Function) was a single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted at the University of Surrey with Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust and published in the European Heart Journal Open.
“STAMINA tested the complete 12-ingredient formula against a placebo, so the trial answers whether NOVOS Core works as a whole,” said Diogo Barardo, PhD, Director of R&D at NOVOS and co-author on the new paper. “We designed NOVOS Core around the idea that aging runs through many connected processes at once, and we chose each ingredient for evidence that it acts on several hallmarks of aging and for decades of safe human use.”
The company has already tested the finished formula in cells and animals with researchers from the University of Bologna reporting in Nutrients that the product protected human skin cells against DNA damage without causing damage of its own. Notably, it worked at a far lower total concentration than simpler formulas, which the researchers said points to possible synergy, Dr. Barardo said.
Studies with mice, performed at Newcastle University, showed that the product extended lifespan in aged mice by more than 18%, he added.
NOVOS supported the new study by supplying the supplement and its matching placebo, as well as providing an unrestricted contribution toward research costs. The company had no role in study design, collection or primary interpretation of the data or the decision to publish. The University of Surrey researchers retained control of the study data.
NOVOS
The longevity-focused biotechnology company was founded to answer one question, said Chris Mirabile, founder and CEO: What can a person do to slow the aging process and stay healthier for longer?
NOVOS calls the STAMINA study “early human evidence,” and the trial measured cardiovascular health over six months. “That is where our claim stands,” Miracle said. “Direct measures of biological aging come next in our research.”
He explained that the company started with blood vessels because they supply every organ, and they are one of the first parts of the body to show signs of aging, starting as early as age 30 and years before most people notice any change.
“That wear is driven by the Hallmarks of Aging that NOVOS Core was designed to target, which makes cardiovascular function one of the clearest places to test whether supporting the biology of aging produces a measurable change in people.”
While NOVOS is committed to building the science behind its products, Mirabile said the wider longevity supplement market is growing faster than its evidence.
“The standard I’d hold any longevity product to starts with randomized, placebo-controlled human trials of the whole formula, run by independent researchers and published after peer review,” he said. “The studies should look at systems associated with age-related decline, and ideally, demonstrate improvements in functional biomarkers, which look at the actual organ’s function, as opposed to more indirect surrogate biomarkers.
“STAMINA meets that standard and is our first step on that path, and I’d encourage people to ask the same of every company that puts longevity on a label, including ours.”
Human data
The STAMINA study (NCT06145087) included 61 apparently healthy, non-smoking adults aged 40 and older: 33 were assigned to receive NOVOS Core and 28 were assigned placebo. The active supplement is formulated with vitamin C, magnesium malate, calcium alpha-ketoglutarate, glycine, GreenGrown glucosamine sulphate, Rhodiola rosea root extract, L-theanine, hyaluronic acid, fisetin, organic ginger root extract, pterostilbene and lithium aspartate.
After six months of supplementation, the data showed that blood vessel function, measured as flow-mediated dilation (FMD), increased by 47% from baseline in the NOVOS supplement group, with an adjusted improvement versus placebo of 2.9%, a magnitude considered clinically meaningful in published vascular research. Improvements were recorded within an hour of the first serving, the researchers reported.
Arterial flexibility, measured using carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), decreased in the NOVOS Core group and increased in the placebo group. PWV is reported to rise by approximately 1.0 meter per second per decade across adulthood, so the between-group difference of 1.18 meters per second observed in this study would translate to multi-year differences in vascular aging.
For blood pressure, systolic blood pressure decreased by 6.1 mmHg more in the NOVOS Core group, compared to placebo. This drop in blood pressure was reflected in a modest decrease in the estimated 10-year cardiovascular risk.
On the other hand, no changes in blood lipid levels were recorded during the trial.
Dr. Barardo noted that the lack of impact on cholesterol or triglycerides was not surprising.
“We hypothesized that targeting aging biology could impact several distinct biomarkers of vascular health, nonetheless affecting three with such a meaningful effect size was a positive surprise,” he said. “It is extremely unlikely that a dietary formulation would be able to improve all the biomarkers of vascular health assessed.
“In STAMINA, endothelial function, arterial flexibility and systolic blood pressure improved compared with placebo in healthy adults, most of whom had blood pressure within the normal range, while cholesterol and triglycerides stayed the same. That suggests the improvements came from the blood vessels themselves.”
Commenting on what’s next, Dr. Barardo said follow-up studies will explore the potential benefits of NOVOS Core in other organ systems, including muscle function, brain and cognition and skin, along with further analysis of its effects on the biological aging process itself.
Source: European Heart Journal Open, Vol. 6, Issue 6, oeag157. doi: 10.1093/ehjopen/oeag157. “Acute and 6-month vascular effects of a multi-component nutritional supplement: a randomized controlled trial”. Authors: C. Piercy et al.
